# Blondie (comic strip) question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 29, 2012, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blondie-comic-strip-question/629801 "2012-07-29T22:53:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blondie-comic-strip-question/629801/1 "2012-07-29T22:53:20Z")
As far as I can tell, [Mr. Beasley the postman](http://www.tsscontent.ca/var/news_site/storage/images/media/images/print_content__1/comics/characters/blondie_mr_beasley/3212-1-eng-US/blondie_mr_beasley.gif) looks exactly like the Bumstead’s neighber [Herb Woodley](http://www.tsscontent.ca/var/news_site/storage/images/media/images/print_content__1/comics/characters/blondie_herb_woodley/3204-1-eng-US/blondie_herb_woodley.gif). Is there any in-universe notice of this? It can’t be just a limited repertoire of faces because the current artists are very good at creating lots of “extras”. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blondie-comic-strip-question/629801/2 "2012-07-29T23:14:14Z")
I’ve noticed that since the sixties. I have always liked how Daisy’s expressions mirror the humans’. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blondie-comic-strip-question/629801/3 "2012-07-30T00:14:39Z")
Herb has a dimpled chin. Beasley doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blondie-comic-strip-question/629801/4 "2012-07-30T00:56:17Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Herb has a dimpled chin. Beasley doesn’t. Whoa. You are awesome. I could NOT, for the life of me, see a difference. Here, do [this](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/Spot_the_difference.png/500px-Spot_the_difference.png)one now! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blondie-comic-strip-question/629801/5 "2012-07-30T01:08:42Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Whoa. You are awesome. I could NOT, for the life of me, see a difference. Here, do [this](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/Spot_the_difference.png/500px-Spot_the_difference.png)one now! That’s easy. One of them is on the left and one of them is on the right. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blondie-comic-strip-question/629801/6 "2012-07-30T01:14:29Z")
Types of cookies number of bananas cabinet pulls the time mountains in picture pin in Granny’s hair folds in Granny’s blouse items on shelf number of things in lime Jello what the cat is holding kid’s feet plates on cabinet the cat’s hopes and dreams Granny’s ben-wa balls are missing in the second picture ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blondie-comic-strip-question/629801/7 "2012-07-30T01:44:17Z")
Nice, but you didn’t spot the kid’s tongue. Or the plate with the smiley face. What are ben-wa balls? ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blondie-comic-strip-question/629801/8 "2012-07-30T01:57:21Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > As far as I can tell, [Mr. Beasley the postman](http://www.tsscontent.ca/var/news_site/storage/images/media/images/print_content__1/comics/characters/blondie_mr_beasley/3212-1-eng-US/blondie_mr_beasley.gif) looks exactly like the Bumstead’s neighber [Herb Woodley](http://www.tsscontent.ca/var/news_site/storage/images/media/images/print_content__1/comics/characters/blondie_herb_woodley/3204-1-eng-US/blondie_herb_woodley.gif). Is there any in-universe notice of this? It can’t be just a limited repertoire of faces because the current artists are very good at creating lots of “extras”. [OnlySixFaces](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OnlySixFaces). I.e. no they’re not (or at least they don’t usually bother)-you see the exact same thing in the Simpsons, for example. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blondie-comic-strip-question/629801/9 "2012-07-30T02:09:50Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Nice, but you didn’t spot the kid’s tongue. > Or the plate with the smiley face. > > What are ben-wa balls? Got the plates, missed the tongue. [Ben Wa balls.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Wa_balls) ---
**Author:** ![nogravity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9d8465/32.png) [@nogravity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nogravity)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blondie-comic-strip-question/629801/10 "2012-07-30T03:19:44Z")
Also missing - Frosting on bottom layer of cake is different Window curtain different on top ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blondie-comic-strip-question/629801/11 "2012-07-30T03:31:42Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Types of cookies More than that, the square cookie becomes a computer floppy disk. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blondie-comic-strip-question/629801/12 "2012-07-30T05:19:27Z")
To solve those side-by-side “differences” puzzles, just adjust your eyes to make the pictures come together as in a Magic Eye picture. The differences will shimmer, and you can pick them out easily. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blondie-comic-strip-question/629801/13 "2012-07-30T08:15:21Z")
> [@Sam\_A.Robrin](#): > > To solve those side-by-side “differences” puzzles, just adjust your eyes to make the pictures come together as in a Magic Eye picture. The differences will shimmer, and you can pick them out easily. I thought I was the only one who did it this way. Though it does feel a little bit like cheating. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blondie-comic-strip-question/629801/14 "2012-07-30T14:02:03Z")
OK, now in the comic strip “Zits”, convince me that Hector is not the bastard son of Walt. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blondie-comic-strip-question/629801/15 "2012-07-30T20:16:23Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > [OnlySixFaces](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OnlySixFaces). I.e. no they’re not (or at least they don’t usually bother)-you see the exact same thing in the Simpsons, for example. There’s only a couple of female body types in Blondie, too. Blondie and Cookie (the Bumstead daughter) could wear each other’s clothes, as could Herb’s wife. Then there’s the Chinless Plump Dowager body, as typified by the boss’s wife. Female faces are basically the same on their body types, with hairstyle variations so you can tell them apart. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blondie-comic-strip-question/629801/16 "2012-07-30T23:34:43Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I thought I was the only one who did it this way. Though it does feel a little bit like cheating. Shakespeare scholars are now using the same technique to compare printings of the First Folio, for which changes were made between printings of each individual copy. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blondie-comic-strip-question/629801/17 "2012-07-31T00:01:13Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > [OnlySixFaces](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OnlySixFaces). I.e. no they’re not (or at least they don’t usually bother)-you see the exact same thing in the Simpsons, for example. The champion of this was George Wunder in his version of **[Terry and the Pirates.](http://d1g4sq00ps2bp3.cloudfront.net/images/11112.jpg)** ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blondie-comic-strip-question/629801/18 "2012-07-31T00:16:13Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Herb has a dimpled chin. Beasley doesn’t. It’s funnier if you pretend that Herb is actually moonlighting as the mailman, and Dagwood never notices. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blondie-comic-strip-question/629801/19 "2012-07-31T01:46:43Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > The champion of this was George Wunder in his version of **[Terry and the Pirates.](http://d1g4sq00ps2bp3.cloudfront.net/images/11112.jpg)** Was there some sort of cloning accident in that universe? Because yeah, those guys all have the same face. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blondie-comic-strip-question/629801/20 "2012-07-31T02:08:32Z")
It wasn’t just the[men in the strip](http://d1k217qge1tz5p.cloudfront.net/img/Items/5000/4428.jpg). The eyes, eybrows, and noses were all the same for everyone. They used to have a picture of all the main characters at the top of the Sunday strips, and their faces were identical. N.B. This was George Wunder. **Terry and the Pirates** was created by Milt Caniff (one of the greats of comic strip art), and was one of the great adventure strips of the 30s and 40s. When Caniff left, Wunder replaced him. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blondie-comic-strip-question/629801.md?page=2)